Introduction
Graduate nursing education provides nurses with the advanced knowledge and clinical
abilities and leadership skills they need to meet the growing complexity needs of patients and
healthcare systems. Individuals who seek a Master of Sciences in Nursing (MSN) are ready to
take up specialized positions that focus on evidence-based practice, patient-focused care, and
interdisciplinary teamwork. Graduate-level nurses should understand the historical and political
factors that have affected nursing practice because the factors have influenced the standards of
the profession, education, and clinical roles over time. Also, professional nursing bodies and
frameworks like the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials offer
guidelines toward the pursuit of the excellence of advanced practice, scholarship, and leadership.
The paper will discuss how political stakeholders and historical figures in nursing contributed to
the history of psychiatric mental health nursing specialty, outline some of the historic events in
the nursing field, and how professional organizations contribute to career development. It also
describes my long and short-term career objectives and how MSN degree will influence the
realization of these goals.
Nursing Historical Figure Political Stakeholder.
It is the contribution of a political stakeholder and a historic figure in the history of nursing
that have played a vast role in influencing graduate nursing practice. Barack Obama is one of the
prominent political stakeholders whose leadership has resulted in the passing of the Affordable
Care Act. This healthcare reform had a remarkable impact on the advanced nursing practice as it
opened access to healthcare to millions of Americans and raised the demand of primary care
providers, such as advanced practice nurses (Campbell et al., 2020). A good effect of this policy
was the establishment of nurse practitioners and other advanced practice nurses as necessary
, providers that would assist in dealing with a physician shortage and enhance the accessibility of
healthcare. Consequently, nurse graduates have had more chances of working in more broad
roles and assist in patient-centered care. Nevertheless, the downside of the policy is that the rapid
increase in coverage of healthcare has led to higher demands on healthcare services more rapidly
than the workforce, which has subjected healthcare providers to more workloads and system
strains, which include nurses.
Florence Nightingale is one of the influential historical figures in nursing. Nightingale
transformed nursing with the Crimean War through reforms on sanitation, data and patient-
oriented care. Her efforts made nursing a worthy profession and a blueprint of formal nursing
education. Among the positive effects of her work, one can single out the evolution of evidence-
based practice principles that remain relevant in graduate-level nursing practice nowadays
(Pattison et al., 2022). Nevertheless, a weakness of her impact is that the early models of nursing
paid much attention to the hierarchy of healthcare systems, which initially restrained the freedom
of nurses in clinical decision-making.
Historical Events Timeline of Specialty Area.
Psychiatric mental health nursing has had some key historical events that have shaped its
development and still impact the graduate nursing practice to date. The Community Mental
Health Act was one of the important achievements. This bill sought to shift psychiatric care out
of huge mental health hospitals in communities to treatment facilities. The transition made nurses
have new opportunities to work in the community and stressed on patient-centered care and
holism (Mental Health Board, 2023). To graduate level nurses, this incident pushes the value of
community outreach and interdisciplinary teamwork in helping to work with mentally ill
persons.
Graduate nursing education provides nurses with the advanced knowledge and clinical
abilities and leadership skills they need to meet the growing complexity needs of patients and
healthcare systems. Individuals who seek a Master of Sciences in Nursing (MSN) are ready to
take up specialized positions that focus on evidence-based practice, patient-focused care, and
interdisciplinary teamwork. Graduate-level nurses should understand the historical and political
factors that have affected nursing practice because the factors have influenced the standards of
the profession, education, and clinical roles over time. Also, professional nursing bodies and
frameworks like the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials offer
guidelines toward the pursuit of the excellence of advanced practice, scholarship, and leadership.
The paper will discuss how political stakeholders and historical figures in nursing contributed to
the history of psychiatric mental health nursing specialty, outline some of the historic events in
the nursing field, and how professional organizations contribute to career development. It also
describes my long and short-term career objectives and how MSN degree will influence the
realization of these goals.
Nursing Historical Figure Political Stakeholder.
It is the contribution of a political stakeholder and a historic figure in the history of nursing
that have played a vast role in influencing graduate nursing practice. Barack Obama is one of the
prominent political stakeholders whose leadership has resulted in the passing of the Affordable
Care Act. This healthcare reform had a remarkable impact on the advanced nursing practice as it
opened access to healthcare to millions of Americans and raised the demand of primary care
providers, such as advanced practice nurses (Campbell et al., 2020). A good effect of this policy
was the establishment of nurse practitioners and other advanced practice nurses as necessary
, providers that would assist in dealing with a physician shortage and enhance the accessibility of
healthcare. Consequently, nurse graduates have had more chances of working in more broad
roles and assist in patient-centered care. Nevertheless, the downside of the policy is that the rapid
increase in coverage of healthcare has led to higher demands on healthcare services more rapidly
than the workforce, which has subjected healthcare providers to more workloads and system
strains, which include nurses.
Florence Nightingale is one of the influential historical figures in nursing. Nightingale
transformed nursing with the Crimean War through reforms on sanitation, data and patient-
oriented care. Her efforts made nursing a worthy profession and a blueprint of formal nursing
education. Among the positive effects of her work, one can single out the evolution of evidence-
based practice principles that remain relevant in graduate-level nursing practice nowadays
(Pattison et al., 2022). Nevertheless, a weakness of her impact is that the early models of nursing
paid much attention to the hierarchy of healthcare systems, which initially restrained the freedom
of nurses in clinical decision-making.
Historical Events Timeline of Specialty Area.
Psychiatric mental health nursing has had some key historical events that have shaped its
development and still impact the graduate nursing practice to date. The Community Mental
Health Act was one of the important achievements. This bill sought to shift psychiatric care out
of huge mental health hospitals in communities to treatment facilities. The transition made nurses
have new opportunities to work in the community and stressed on patient-centered care and
holism (Mental Health Board, 2023). To graduate level nurses, this incident pushes the value of
community outreach and interdisciplinary teamwork in helping to work with mentally ill
persons.
